MySQL 5.6 GA version is finally available for download. One of its main features is the new NoSQL interface to access tables much faster than using SQL via a connection compatible of memcached. MySQL 5.6 speed improvements and how it affects PHP applications was one of the main topics discussed by Manuel Lemos and Ernani Joppert on the episode 32 of the Lately in PHP podcast. They also commented on the eventual adoption of the Zend Optimizer+ as the PHP code caching extension that may be shipping with PHP 5.5 as alternative to APC, the implications of this to the PHP community. Other topics discussed in the podcast include the switch of OpenSuSE and Fedora Linux distributions from Oracle MySQL to MariaDB MySQL fork, the use of test driven development in the Zurmo PHP Open Source CRM, using advanced HTML5 based animations to get the attention of site users, and the launch of the JavaScript Innovation Award that just happened in the JSClasses site. Listen to the podcast audio, or watch the podcast video, or read the podcast transcript to learn more about the details of these and other interesting topics.